There will be a literary and musical memorial service in honor of Victor
Perera's
life and work on Sunday, July 27, 2003, 7 p.m. at Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts
Center,
681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA. 90291. Beyond Baroque is located 3 and a
half blocks WEST of Lincoln Blvd., in the old Venice City Hall building
on the north side of Venice Blvd. The Beyond Baroque Bookstore will be
open during this event. Victor Perera is the author of "The Cross
and the Pear Tree, A Sephardic Journey" and other works.

This special literary evening is organized by Ivri-NASAWI, New Association
of Sephardi/Mizrahi Artists & Writers International, the arts group
Victor Perera helped co-found in 1996.

For complete information about this program, including bios, go to:http://www.ivri-nasawi.org/Perera/PereraMemorial.html

Victor Perera often wrote about the underdog and gave a voice to the voiceless.
A native of Guatemala of Sephardic Jewish descent, he wrote three books
about Central America, a
novel set in Spain called "The Conversion," and an excellent
literary memoir, published in
1995, "The Cross and the Pear Tree, A Sephardic Journey." Perera
also published many
essays, short stories and travel features in diverse publications such
as the New York
Review of Books, Harpers, The New Yorker, and others.

Participants include writers Deena Metzger, Alicia Kozameh, Trudi Alexy,
George Lovell,
Elio Zarmati and Jordan Elgrably, and singer/ songwriter Stefani Valadez
who will sing
Sephardic folksongs from her new CD, "Ladino Alive." There will
be an open session with
contributions from other Perera friends around the country, along with
refreshments.
This program is free to the public. Donations suggested, tributes welcome.

To RSVP, call 323.650.3157.

For complete information about this program, including bios, go to:http://www.ivri-nasawi.org/Perera/PereraMemorial.html

I am currently putting together a course titled "The Sephardi Diaspora"
which deals with the experience of Sephardi Jews after the expulsion from
Spain to the present day. As a medievalist, I'm venturing into new
territory in doing this, and would be grateful for some guidance.

If anyone has taught a similar course and would be willing to share a
syllabus with me, I'd be particularly grateful. I'm also interested in
any
suggestions anyone might have about what to assign. I do want to keep
both
the cost of books and the volume of reading reasonable.